Mobility enhanced CMOS devices

ABSTRACT

Compressive or tensile materials are selectively introduced beneath and in alignment with spacer areas and adjacent to channel areas of a semiconductor substrate to enhance or degrade electron and hole mobility in CMOS circuits. A process entails steps of creating dummy spacers, forming a dielectric mandrel (i.e., mask), removing the dummy spacers, etching recesses into the underlying semiconductor substrate, introducing a compressive or tensile material into a portion of each recess, and filling the remainder of each recess with substrate material.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional application of copending application Ser. No. 10/708,430, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention generally relates to a semiconductor device and method of manufacture and, more particularly, to a stress enhanced complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) device and method of manufacture.

2. Background Description

As semiconductor devices continue to evolve towards higher densities of circuit elements, the performance of materials used for the devices becomes more critical to overall performance, such as charge carrier mobility. One approach for enhancing performance involves imparting local mechanical stresses. In the case of a (100) Si surface orientation with current flow in the <110> direction, electron mobility and, thus, n-channel field effect transistor (nFET) performance, may be improved by imparting tensile stress along (i.e., parallel to) the direction of a current flow. Additionally, hole mobility and, thus, p-channel field effect transistor (pFET) performance, may be enhanced by imparting compressive stress parallel to the direction of current flow.

One approach for enhancing stress is to fabricate CMOS devices on substrates having a thin strained silicon (Si) layer on a relaxed SiGe buffer layer which exhibit substantially higher electron and hole mobility in strained Si layers than in bulk silicon layers. Furthermore, metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs) with strained Si channels exhibit enhanced device performance compared to devices fabricated in conventional (unstrained) silicon substrates. However, this traditional approach has several drawbacks. Specifically, no pFET improvement has been observed for Ge concentrations less than 30%. Furthermore, as Ge concentrations increase to a level required to enhance performance of p-channel field effect transistors, so does defect density. Dopant diffusion (e.g., of arsenic) is also problematic in SiGe layers and can lead to degraded short channel effects.

Another problem faced by conventional stress inducing techniques relates to achieving a balanced stress profile in the channel. Uneven stress profiles may result from non-uniform Ge distributions in SiGe layers, unevenly formed stress inducing films, and stress inducing structures that are unevenly spaced from a channel. Such irregularities are common occurrences that can diminish the beneficial effects of the stress inducing materials.

The invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems as set forth above.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In a first aspect of the invention, a method of forming a semiconductor structure is provided. The method entails forming a field effect transistor gate on a substrate. Then a mandrel layer is formed. Then spacer voids are formed between the gate and mandrel layer. Subsequently, recesses are created in the substrate below and in alignment with the spacer voids. A first portion of the recesses are filled with a stress imposing material. A second portion of the recesses are next filled with a semiconductor material. Then the mandrel layer is removed. The resulting structure includes stress inducing material in alignment with spacer locations and adjacent to a channel region for the gate.

In a second aspect of the invention, a method of forming a semiconductor structure is provided. The method entails forming dummy spacers on sides of a gate formed on a substrate. Next, a mandrel layer is formed with portions abutting the dummy spacers. After forming the mandrel layer, the dummy spacers are removed to form spacer voids between the gate and mandrel layer. Next, recesses are created in the substrate below and in alignment with the first spacer voids. A first portion of the recesses are then filled with a stress imposing material. Then, a second portion of the recesses are filled with a semiconductor material. Next the mandrel layer is removed.

In a third aspect of the invention, a method of forming a semiconductor structure with two types of field effect transistor devices is provided. The method entails forming first and second types of field effect transistor gate on a substrate. A first dummy spacer and a second dummy spacer are formed for each of the first type of field effect transistor gate and the second type of field effect transistor gate. The first dummy spacer is formed on a first side of each gate, and the second dummy spacer is formed on a second side of each gate opposite the first side. Next, a first mandrel layer is formed with portions abutting the dummy spacers for each type of gate.

After forming the mandrel layer, the second type of field effect transistor gate and the first and second dummy spacers for the second type of field effect transistor gate are all masked. The next several steps, as described below are performed on the first type of field effect transistor gate, which is now the unmasked field effect transistor gate.

The first and second dummy spacers are removed from the unmasked field effect transistor gate to form a first spacer void between the gate and the mandrel layer and a second spacer void between the gate and the mandrel layer for the unmasked field effect transistor gate. Next, a first recess is created in the substrate below and in alignment with the first spacer void for the unmasked field effect transistor gate. Then, a second recess is created in the substrate below and in alignment with the second spacer void for the unmasked field effect transistor gate. A first portion of the first recess and a first portion of the second recess for the unmasked field effect transistor gate are then filled with a stress material configured to enhance performance of the unmasked field effect transistor gate. Then, a second portion of the first recess and a second portion of the second recess for the unmasked field effect transistor gate are filled with a semiconductor material.

Subsequently, the second type of field effect transistor gate and the first and second dummy spacers for the second type of field effect transistor gate are all unmasked. Then, the first type of field effect transistor gate and areas of the substrate corresponding to the first type of field effect transistor gate are covered by a mandrel layer. The steps described in the preceding paragraph are then performed for the unmasked field effect transistor gate, which is now the second type of field effect transistor gate. After completing the steps, the first type of field effect transistor gate, the first and second dummy spacers for the first type of field effect transistor gate and areas of the substrate corresponding to the first type of field effect transistor gate are unmasked. The mandrel layer is then removed.

In a fourth aspect of the invention, a semiconductor structure is provided. The structure includes a substrate with a field effect transistor gate on the substrate. The gate has a first side and a second side. A first spacer is provided against a first side of the gate and a second spacer is provided against a second side of the gate. A first recess in the substrate, that is approximately directly below the first spacer, has a first side approximately in alignment with the first side of the gate. A second recess in the substrate, that is approximately directly below the second spacer, has a second side approximately in alignment with the second side of the gate. A stress imposing material fills a first portion of the first recess and a first portion of the second recess. A semiconductor material fills a second portion of the first recess and a second portion of the second recess.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The following is a brief description of the drawings:

FIG. 1 shows a semiconductor structure including a gate, a gate dielectric layer and dummy spacers on a substrate;

FIG. 2 shows the semiconductor structure of FIG. 1 with an added mandrel layer and a planarized surface;

FIG. 3 shows the semiconductor structure of FIG. 2 with the dummy spacers removed to form voids;

FIG. 4 shows the semiconductor structure of FIG. 3 with recesses in the substrate formed at the bottom of each void;

FIG. 5 shows the semiconductor structure of FIG. 4 with an added interfacial layer;

FIG. 6 shows the semiconductor structure of FIG. 5 with stress inducing material formed in the recesses;

FIG. 7 shows the semiconductor structure of FIG. 6 with the stress inducing material formed in the recesses being etched back;

FIG. 8 shows the semiconductor structure of FIG. 7 with device quality epitaxially grown semiconductor material filling the top unfilled portion of the recesses; and

FIG. 9 shows the semiconductor structure of FIG. 8 with the mandrel layer removed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

The invention employs compressive or tensile imposing materials selectively introduced beneath and in alignment with spacer areas of a semiconductor substrate and adjacent to channel areas to enhance electron and hole mobility in CMOS circuits. An exemplary process in accordance with the invention entails steps of creating dummy spacers, forming a dielectric mandrel (i.e., mask), removing the dummy spacers, etching recesses into the underlying semiconductor substrate, introducing a compressive or tensile imposing material into a portion of each recess, and filling the remainder of each recess with substrate material.

Referring now to FIG. 1, an exemplary starting structure comprised of a substrate 100 having a patterned gate 10, with a gate dielectric layer 120 and disposable (i.e., dummy) spacers 105 and 115 is shown. The substrate is a semiconductor substrate such as a silicon or silicon-on-insulator wafer 100. Such wafers are commercially available starting substrates for various discrete and integrated circuit (IC) semiconductor device applications. The dummy spacers 105 and 115 are comprised of a disposable material such as a nitride (Si₃N₄) film formed at side walls of the gate 110. Alternatively, if, for example, the gate has a gate cap (i.e., a dielectric layer, for example, a silicon nitride layer, a silicon oxy-nitride layer, or other material layers having high etching selectivity to subsequently formed dielectric layers), then a thin SiO₂ liner may be deposited followed by deposition of a polysilicon film to form the dummy spacers 105 and 115. The dummy spacers may, for example, have a thickness of approximately 100 to 1000 Å. The formation of the dummy spacers 105 and 115 can be carried out in a conventional manner, such as by using a sacrificial nitride film process.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that conventional process steps may be used to fabricate the structure shown in FIG. 1. A typical sequence may, for example, include first providing a semiconductor substrate 100. Next, an isolation scheme is used to isolate active devices (e.g., MOSFETs). The isolation of semiconductor devices fabricated on the substrate 100 may be performed using local oxidation of substrate (“LOCOS”) isolation techniques in both bulk silicon substrate applications and silicon-on-insulator (“SOI”) substrate applications, trench isolation such as shallow trench isolation techniques in bulk silicon substrate applications, and mesa isolation in SOI substrate applications.

Well implants, which include p-wells or n-wells, are formed in the structure, typically after formation of the isolation regions, utilizing, for example, conventional ion implantation and activation annealing processes. The ion dosage and implant energies may vary depending of the type of dopant to be implanted as well as the desired depth of the well implant. Moreover, the activation annealing temperatures and times employed may also vary. The well implants are used to set threshold voltages.

Next, gate oxidation followed by gate patterning may be performed in a conventional manner to form the gate stack 110 and 120. The dummy spacers are then fabricated by depositing a disposable dummy spacer material and, if necessary, performing a spacer etch. It should be noted that the specific steps of the standard process flow used to fabricate the structure shown in FIG. 1 are not critical to the invention.

Now referring to FIG. 2, a film is deposited and planarized to the top of the gate 110 to form a mandrel layer 205 and 210 over the active device region and abutting the dummy spacers 105 and 115. The mandrel layer 205 and 210 may be comprised of a dielectric film such as SiO₂ or a self-planarizing material (e.g., a spin-on polymer or oxide deposited in liquid form by reaction of methyl silane and hydrogen peroxide) that withstands etching of dummy spacers 105 and 115, as described below. Deposition may be performed using conventional deposition methods such as atmospheric pressure CVD, low pressure CVD (LPCVD) or plasma-enhanced CVD (PECVD). Planarization may be performed using chemical mechanical processing (CMP)

After forming the mandrel layer 205 and 210, the dummy spacers 105 and 115 may be removed using a wet or dry (e.g., plasma assisted) etch process. If the dummy spacers 105 and 115 are comprised of Si₃N₄, then wet etching may be performed using concentrated hydrofluoric acid (HF), buffered HF or a boiling H₃PO₄ solution. If the dummy spacers 105 and 115 are comprised of polysilicon with an SiO₂ liner, then wet etching may be performed to remove the polysilicon using mixtures of nitric acid (HNO₃) and hydrofluoric acid (HF) in water or acetic acid (CH₃COOH), or using a mixture of potassium hydroxide (KOH) in water and isopropyl alcohol. After removing the polysilicon, wet etching may be performed to remove the SiO₂ liner using a dilute solution of HF with or without the addition of ammonium fluoride (NH₄F) for buffering. Removal of the dummy spacers 105 and 115 results in spacer voids 305 and 310 as shown in FIG. 3.

After removing the dummy spacers 105 and 115, the substrate (e.g., Si) is etched using a timed etch process to create recesses 405 and 410 at the bottom of the spacer voids 305 and 310 as shown in FIG. 4. The depth of the recesses 405 and 410 measured from the top surface of the substrate 100 may be approximately 500 to 2000 Å. The recesses 405 and 410, which will be partially filled with a stress inducing material, should extend below the channel region of the FET. In one embodiment, the depth of each recess 405 and 410 is such as to position the top surface of the stress inducing material slightly below the semiconducting channel region of the substrate 100 that will separate a highly conductive source and drain. The closer in proximity the stress inducing material is to the channel, the more pronounced the effect on mobility.

Next, a nitride interface (e.g., an Si₃N₄ film) 505 may be formed, including in recesses 405 and 410, as shown in FIG. 5. By way of example, the nitride interface may be formed using an intermediate temperature LPCVD process or a low-temperature plasma assisted CVD process. The nitride interface may serve as a selective etch stop film.

Next recesses 405 and 410 may be filled with stress inducing material 605 and 610, as shown in FIG. 6. The stress inducing material may fill the recesses 405 and 410 up to about the top of the substrate 100. Materials that undergo a volume expansion during the process flow may be used to impart compressive stresses. Likewise, materials that undergo a volume contraction during the process flow may be used to impart tensile stresses. Alternatively, materials having intrinsic stress properties may be used to impart tensile or compressive stresses. Thus, the chosen materials should impart a determined stress (e.g., either compressive or tensile) without introducing adverse affects.

An example of a tensile material is polysilicon. Polysilicon may be deposited in a conventional manner, such as by pyrolizing silane (SiH₄) using a low-pressure reactor operated between about 600° C. and 650° C. The pressure may be approximately 25 to 130 Pa using 100% silane or 20% to 30% silane diluted in nitrogen. After deposition, the polysilicon may be annealed, such as by rapid thermal annealing (RTA) between 950 to 1050° C. Upon annealing, the polysilicon grains grow and the material experiences a volume contraction. The contraction creates a tensile stress. The tensile stress causes tension in the channel, which enhances electron mobility for an nFET.

An example of a material which may impose a compressive stress is Si_(1-x)Ge_(x), which may be deposited or grown using conventional techniques such as chemical vapor deposition methods. For example, ultrahigh vacuum chemical vapor deposition (UHVCVD) may be used to grow a device quality Si_(1-x)Ge_(x) layer. Other conventional techniques include rapid thermal chemical vapor deposition (RTCVD), low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD), limited reaction processing CVD (LRPCVD) and molecular beam epitaxy (MBE).

Another example of a material which may impose a compressive stress is SiO₂. When Si is oxidized such as at a high temperature, dense Si is replaced with less dense SiO₂. The SiO₂ is expanded in volume relative to the Si and exerts a compressive stress.

Alternatively, dielectric films may be used to stress recesses 405 and 410. By way of example, silicon nitride Si₃N₄ or Si_(x)N_(y), and/or silicon oxynitride Si_(x)ON_(y), may be used for stress films. These materials may be grown or blanket deposited in a conventional manner, such as by chemical vapor deposition (CVD), plasma enhanced CVD or physical vapor deposition (PVD). Such films can be made with a well controlled thickness. Illustratively, the thickness range may be between 50 to 300 nanometers for a thick film, and 20 to 50 nanometers for a thin film. Stress in such films may be controlled by controlling the deposition pressure and/or plasma power and/or other deposition process parameters.

Illustratively, without limiting the scope of the invention, to achieve a tensile film exhibiting a tensile stress of approximately 700 MPa, the following CVD parameters may be used:

-   -   (i) a temperature of approximately 480° C.,     -   (ii) a pressure of approximately 6.25 Torr,     -   (iii) a spacing between the wafer and the electrode of 490 mils,     -   (iv) a flow of 300 sccm of 2% dilute SiH₄ gas, 15 sccm NH₃ gas         and 1060 sccm N₂ gas using RF power of 340 watts.         Likewise, without limiting the scope of the invention, to         achieve a compressive film exhibiting a compressive stress of         approximately −1400 MPa, the following CVD parameters may be         used:     -   (i) a temperature of approximately 480° C.,     -   (ii) a pressure of approximately 5.75 Torr,     -   (iii) a spacing between the wafer and the electrode of 395 mils,     -   (iv) a flow of 3000 sccm of 2% dilute SiH₄ gas, 15 sccm NH₃ gas         and 1060 sccm N₂ gas using RF power of 900 watts.         Adjusting the deposition process parameters allows control over         properties of the deposited material, including physical         properties such as stress properties.

The stress inducing material 605 and 610 may then be selectively etched back, as shown in FIG. 7, using a conventional wet or dry timed etching process. The etching process and etchant should be selective to the material to be etched rather than the surrounding material (e.g., Si₃N₄ film and/or material underlying Si₃N₄ film). Etching should be carried out until the top surface of the material 605 and 610 is below the level of the channel, which will separate the source from the drain.

The dotted line marked by arrow 710, as shown in FIG. 7, conceptually denotes a bottom of a channel area for illustrative purposes. The area between the dotted line and the top surface of the substrate under the gate is referred to herein as the channel region or channel area. Channel regions are typically rectangular with an associated length and width. As used herein channel area refers to an actual channel as well as to an area of a substrate that will accommodate a channel when the channel is formed. Stress induced by the materials 605 and 610 will be imparted to the adjacent channel region, thereby enhancing mobility in the channel. Because the stress material is below the channel (i.e., at a greater depth in the substrate), it should not interfere with the source or drain. The width of each recess, shown as 720 in FIG. 7, is approximately the same as the width of the removed dummy spacers. By way of example, the width may be approximately 100 to 1000 Å. The total depth of each recess below the substrate 100 surface, shown as 730, may, for example, be approximately 500 to 2000 Å. The depth of the recessed stress material, i.e., the distance from the top surface of the substrate 100 to the top surface of the recessed stress material, which is denoted by 740, is slightly greater than the depth of the bottom of the channel, as denoted by 710. The height of the recessed stress material equals the difference between 730 and 740.

Additionally, as the stress inducing materials 605 and 610 are located below the dummy spacers, they are self-aligned, i.e., equidistant from the channel center. Thus, the materials 605 and 610 may impart substantially equal stresses to the channel.

The invention thus enables introduction of tensile or compressive stress to a transistor channel. Depending upon the surface orientation of the substrate and the direction of current flow in the crystal, an introduced tensile stress may enhance or degrade the mobility and an introduced compressive stress may enhance or degrade mobility.

After the stress inducing materials 605 and 610 have been deposited and etched back, a selective epitaxial Si growth process is carried out to fill the remainder of the recesses with device quality Si 805 and 810 as shown in FIG. 8. The epitaxial growth may be carried out using conventional vapor-phase epitaxy (VPE) or molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) techniques. The top surfaces of the epitaxially grown Si 805 and 810 may or may not be planarized.

Next, the dielectric masks 205 and 210, including exposed portions of the nitride film 505, are removed selectively with respect to the gate and substrate. A wet or dry etching process may be carried out in a conventional manner. For example, a buffered HF etch may be performed to remove the materials. Removal results in a structure as shown in FIG. 9. After such removal, a conventional process flow may be carried out to complete the device build, including halo and extension implants, source-drain spacer, source drain implants, rapid thermal annealing (RTA) and silicide formation.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the process described above may be carried out in a selective manner. Active devices may be categorized into two or more groups. For example, different types of devices (e.g., nFETs and pFETs) may each have their own group. Conventional masking processes may be performed to isolate one or more groups from the process, while the process is carried out on an exposed group. Thus, a process according to the principles of the invention may be carried out separately for each group, e.g., first on pFETs, then on nFETs, or vice versa, to selectively introduce compressive or tensile stresses.

Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that a process according to the principles of the invention may be carried out in conjunction with other stress inducing processes to further enhance performance. Electron mobility and, thus, nFET performance is improved by imparting tensile stress either along (i.e., parallel to) the direction of a current flow (i.e., from source to drain) and/or orthogonal to the direction of current flow. Additionally, hole mobility and, thus, pFET performance, may be enhanced by imparting compressive stress parallel to the direction of current flow and tensile stress perpendicular to the direction of current flow. To achieve enhanced performance, processes tailored to impart determined stresses orthogonal to the direction of current flow may be applied along with a process according to the principles of the invention.

Additionally, those skilled in the art will appreciate that in some cases it may be advantageous to degrade mobility, such as to regulate current flow. The invention enables selectively introducing compress or tensile stresses for purposes of degrading mobility.

While the invention has been described in terms of exemplary embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention can be practiced with modifications and in the spirit and scope of the appended claims. 

1. A semiconductor structure, comprising: a substrate; a field effect transistor gate on the substrate, the gate having a first side and a second side; a first spacer against a first side of the gate; a second spacer against a second side of the gate; a first recess in the substrate, the first recess being approximately directly below the first spacer and having a first side approximately in alignment with the first side of the gate; a second recess in the substrate, the second recess being approximately directly below the second spacer and having a second side approximately in alignment with the second side of the gate; a material imposing stress filling a first portion of the first recess and a first portion of the second recess; a semiconductor material filling a second portion of the first recess and a second portion of the second recess.
 2. A semiconductor structure according to claim 1, wherein the stress imposing material is a material that introduces one of a compressive stress and a tensile stress.
 3. A semiconductor structure according to claim 1, wherein the stress imposing material is a material comprised of at least one of polysilicon, SiO₂, Si_(1-x)Ge_(x), Si_(x)N_(y), or Si_(x)ON_(y).
 4. A semiconductor structure according to claim 1, wherein: the gate is an n-channel field effect transistor gate or a p-channel field effect transistor gate; and the stress imposing material is a material that introduces a tensile stress in a direction parallel to a direction of current flow if the gate is an n-channel field effect transistor gate, or a material that introduces a compressive stress in a direction parallel to a direction of current flow if the gate is a p-channel field effect transistor gate.
 5. A semiconductor structure according to claim 1, wherein: the stress imposing material is a material that introduces a stress that enhances or degrades electron or hole mobility in the semiconductor structure. 